Search results for "sensitive"
showing 10 items of 210 documents
CFD simulation of a mixing-sensitive reaction in unbaffled vessels
2008
Stirred tanks are widely used in the process industry, often to carry out complex chemical reactions. In many of such cases the perfect mixing hypothesis is not applicable for modelling purposes, and more detailed modelling approaches are required in order to accurately describe the reactor behaviour. In this work a fully predictive modelling approach, based on Computational Fluid Dynamics, is developed. Model predictions are compared with original experimental data obtained in un unbaffled stirred vessel with a parallel-competitive, mixing sensitive reaction scheme. Notably, satisfactory results are obtained at all injection rates with no recourse to micro-mixing model, thus confirming the…
Preparation of pH sensitive poly(vinilydenefluoride) porous membranes by grafting of acrylic acid assisted by supercritical carbon dioxide
2010
Aim of this work is to study the preparation of pH sensitive membranes for biomedical applications via thermal induced graft polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) on poly(vinilydenefluoride) (PVDF) assisted by supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). Using scCO2 as a solvent and swelling agent, the monomer and initiator (benzoyl peroxide) could diffuse faster and distribute more uniformly into the polymer matrix. A better control of the final molecular architecture should be achieved because bimolecular grafting reactions are accelerated with respect to chain degradation processes. Commercial hydrophobic PVDF porous matrixes were selected as model membranes. Grafted polymers were characterized b…
Dyes of a Shadow Theatre: Investigating Tholu Bommalu Indian Puppets through a Highly Sensitive Multi-Spectroscopic Approach
2021
Tholu Bommalu are typical leather puppets of the traditional Indian shadow theatre. Two of these objects are part of a collection in the International Puppets Museum “Antonio Pasqualino” (Palermo, Sicily, Italy), which can count on one hundred-seventy-three of artifacts. These Indian puppets were investigated to obtain information related to the use of dyes for their manufacturing through a multi-technical approach exploiting the combination of highly sensitive spectroscopic techniques. Wet cotton stubbons were used to entrap small particles of dyes on the fibers from the art objects for the consequent analyses. Visible Light Micro-Reflectance spectroscopy was employed for the preliminary i…
Twister Tries
2015
Many commonly used data-mining techniques utilized across research fields perform poorly when used for large data sets. Sequential agglomerative hierarchical non-overlapping clustering is one technique for which the algorithms’ scaling properties prohibit clustering of a large amount of items. Besides the unfavorable time complexity of O(n 2 ), these algorithms have a space complexity of O(n 2 ), which can be reduced to O(n) if the time complexity is allowed to rise to O(n 2 log2 n). In this paper, we propose the use of locality-sensitive hashing combined with a novel data structure called twister tries to provide an approximate clustering for average linkage. Our approach requires only lin…
Extracellular vesicle DNA from human melanoma tissues contains cancer-specific mutations
2022
Liquid biopsies are promising tools for early diagnosis and residual disease monitoring in patients with cancer, and circulating tumor DNA isolated from plasma has been extensively studied as it has been shown to contain tumor-specific mutations. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) present in tumor tissues carry tumor-derived molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids, and thus EVs can potentially represent a source of cancer-specific DNA. Here we identified the presence of tumor-specific DNA mutations in EVs isolated from six human melanoma metastatic tissues and compared the results with tumor tissue DNA and plasma DNA. Tumor tissue EVs were isolated using enzymatic treatment followed by ultra…
Highly Sensitive Polarization Rotation Measurement through a High‐Order Vector Beam Generated by a Metasurface
2020
The precise determination of the polarization state of light is fundamental for a vast variety of applications in remote sensing, astronomy, optics and terahertz technology, to name just a few. Typically, polarization characterization is performed by using a combination of multiple optical devices such as beam splitters, polarizers, and waveplates. Moreover, to achieve high-precision, balanced photodetectors and lock-in amplifiers are employed, thus contributing to increasing system complexity. Here, a technique for polarization rotation measurements with a dynamic range of 180° and a sensitivity of about 10−2 degrees is realized using a properly designed metasurface. Such device generates …
Researching Children’s Multiple Family Relations: Social Network Maps and Life-Lines as Methods
2015
Visual methods are reported to have certain advantages when conducting interviews on sensitive topics, such as intimate spaces, home-related ethical issues, and vulnerable families. In this article, we concentrate on two visual methods: social network maps and life-lines. In our research project on children’s well-being and emotional security in multiple family relations, we collected data by interviewing children and asking them to complete social network maps and life-lines. We discuss the suitability of these two visual methods for describing children’s close relationships with their family members and significant others. Combining these two methods during an interview process with child…
Plasticity in Photoperiodism : Drosophila montana Females Have a Life-Long Ability to Switch From Reproduction to Diapause
2022
Photoperiodic reproductive diapause is an essential part of female life cycle in several insect species living on high latitudes, where overwintering in reproductive stage involves high risks for survival and progeny production. The sensitive period (SP), during which photoperiodic cues can trigger the switch from direct development to diapause, can last from a few hours or days after emergence to the entire life span of females. Moreover, in some species, sexually mature females can enter post-reproductive diapause as a response to decreasing day length and/or temperature. We studied the duration of SP for diapause induction and the females’ ability to enter post-reproductive diapause at s…
Development of an immunochromatographic assay based on carbon nanoparticles for the determination of the phytoregulator forchlorfenuron
2013
Rapid analytical methods enabling the determination of diverse targets are essential in a number of research areas, from clinical diagnostics to feed and food quality and safety. Herein, the development of a quantitative immunochromatographic assay for the detection of the synthetic phytoregulator forchlorfenuron (CPPU) is described. The competitive lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) was based on the immobilization onto a nitrocellulose membrane of an ovalbumin-CPPU conjugate (test line) and on the use of an immunodetection ligand consisting of carbon nanoparticles labeled with an anti-CPPU monoclonal antibody through interaction with a secondary antibody. The presence of CPPU in horticultural…
Riconsiderare l’identità delle donne musulmane nell’Egitto post-rivoluzionario
2019
Questo articolo esplora alcune forme dell’identità femminile nell’Egitto post-rivoluzionario, quale si manifesta in due documenti pubblicati dopo la Rivoluzione del 2011 sui diritti delle donne musulmane. Sono il Documento di al–Azhar (2013) e la Dichiarazione di Alessandria (2014), concordi nel ribadire il valore delle donne e i diritti garantiti loro dalla shari‘a. L’uno e l’altra hanno visto il coinvolgimento delle femministe islamiche. Si descrivono anche le possibilità di collaborazione tra al-Azhar e le femministe islamiche, per fondare una conoscenza religiosa-femminista autoctona e sensibile al genere. Tale collaborazione è utile per l’affermazione di un’identità femminile rispettos…